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Original poster

GCSE reviews news

69 replies

Sausagesandpeas · 02/09/2023 16:52

I know there are a few of us who have requested reviews of GCSE papers or thinking about it so thought it might be useful to have a place to share news.

We have got scripts back for both English Lit and Lang for DD and her English tutor is having a look to see if a review is worthwhile. She was predicted a 9 and got 9s in mocks and came out with a 6. Once he’s had a look, we’ll make a decision.

Also got scripts back for Chemistry and I’m sure a 6 mark calculation that has been scored 0 should have been awarded some marks (and she’s only 1 off the boundary) so will have a closer look at that later.

OP posts:
TheLemonDreamer · 27/08/2024 15:10

Digimoor · 04/09/2023 17:16

Our papers were back within a day or two

Is this for AQA?

Sweetnhappy1 · 23/08/2024 15:50

@Sausagesandpeas How did this go for you last year?

StressBless · 09/09/2023 14:01

dutysuite · 09/09/2023 13:02

Same issue with moderator down marking, it has caused my son to drop two grades. We’ve found it really difficult to get any answers as to why this has happened. We’ve been told we can request the scripts but it won’t tell us why the moderator decided to take so many marks off the NEA. Apparently it’s happened across the department.

It’s so frustrating isn’t it? My DC completed the coursework to the standard they were told was high quality and then to see it downgraded so much and have such an impact on the grade seems unfair and we’re pretty powerless to get answers.

MrsHamlet · 09/09/2023 13:07

dutysuite · 09/09/2023 13:02

Same issue with moderator down marking, it has caused my son to drop two grades. We’ve found it really difficult to get any answers as to why this has happened. We’ve been told we can request the scripts but it won’t tell us why the moderator decided to take so many marks off the NEA. Apparently it’s happened across the department.

The centre will have a report from the moderator which explains why. It won't be about individual candidates, but about the pattern of marking.
Generally, I would expect a moderation downgrade or upgrade to be across the whole cohort because the centre marks are consistently out of tolerance.

dutysuite · 09/09/2023 13:02

Same issue with moderator down marking, it has caused my son to drop two grades. We’ve found it really difficult to get any answers as to why this has happened. We’ve been told we can request the scripts but it won’t tell us why the moderator decided to take so many marks off the NEA. Apparently it’s happened across the department.

bendmeoverbackwards · 08/09/2023 23:58

Lampzade · 05/09/2023 16:13

I agree
i know several people whose English Language marks jumped by up to two grades

Show quote history

Was that this year @Lampzade ?

ignoreignoreignore · 06/09/2023 12:03

We had remark of OCR History as was 2 marks of the next grade.
The remark says 2 questions were marked wrong- 1 went up 4 marks- 1 out of 5 to 5 out of 5.
The other went down 4 marks so no change overall! All fine and glad we did it but does make you wonder...

Idolovetobebesidethesea · 05/09/2023 16:48

StressBless · 05/09/2023 16:06

Does anyone know what is a normal adjustment to coursework scores when it’s moderated? One element of my DC’s coursework was marked at 16/20 by the school but then reduced to 10/20 when moderation of the marking took place - it has pushed them into a lower grade boundary.

I know we can’t appeal that but wondered how common it was for such a big drop. Scores were reduced for all students, not just theirs.

It depends on the school though. DP is a teacher. They have a large amount of coursework in their subject. When they internally moderate as a department, one of DP 's colleagues (thankfully now left) always had over-marked by at least 5 points and often over 10. She would always argue she was right but they always had to moderate her scores down. The department has almost never had the marks changed in external moderation - and DP thinks that's because their internal moderation is so good. But if the (ex) colleague was alone or with other generous markers then they would get marked down a lot (DP says it could make at least 2 grades different sometimes).
(DP is quite proud of the fact that they have never had one of their own coursework marks changed.)

user4750 · 05/09/2023 16:31

Dcs school only advise a review if a child is 3 marks or fewer below the grade boundary. Otherwise they say it’s rarely worth it. They are not looking to find marks, they are looking to see whether the mark awarded was outside of a reasonable award.

Hepherlous · 05/09/2023 16:14

We had edexcel maths paper 1 remarked on advice of school as he was 2 marks off 7 (which he needed to do A level). Script requested Thursday, came back the same day and was reviewed by school maths head who found 3 extra marks and recommended exam board remark. Request to exam board made Friday and result came back Sunday. Very quick but only one mark increase so remained a 6.

Lampzade · 05/09/2023 16:13

Littlemissprosecco · 02/09/2023 20:59

But that’s simply not true! My DS had two 4s last year, for English lang and lit, school weren’t happy, asked for review. two 7s !!
you can’t blame people for trying/ checking

Show quote history

I agree
i know several people whose English Language marks jumped by up to two grades

BorrowedThyme · 05/09/2023 16:10

StressBless · 05/09/2023 16:06

Does anyone know what is a normal adjustment to coursework scores when it’s moderated? One element of my DC’s coursework was marked at 16/20 by the school but then reduced to 10/20 when moderation of the marking took place - it has pushed them into a lower grade boundary.

I know we can’t appeal that but wondered how common it was for such a big drop. Scores were reduced for all students, not just theirs.

It is completely normal. The school is only grading the course work compared to other course work from the same school, not the national grade boundaries

StressBless · 05/09/2023 16:06

Does anyone know what is a normal adjustment to coursework scores when it’s moderated? One element of my DC’s coursework was marked at 16/20 by the school but then reduced to 10/20 when moderation of the marking took place - it has pushed them into a lower grade boundary.

I know we can’t appeal that but wondered how common it was for such a big drop. Scores were reduced for all students, not just theirs.

Lurea · 05/09/2023 09:08

My daughter was a 1 mark off an 8 in math and she just got the good news that 2 marks were found in the remarking. She is very happy!

Hmmph · 04/09/2023 18:03

Thank you!

Digimoor · 04/09/2023 17:16

Our papers were back within a day or two

Hmmph · 04/09/2023 15:38

Out of interest, how long does it take to get the paper back? (Not a remark, just the getting the paper back to look at part)

BorrowedThyme · 03/09/2023 19:21

How much are you paying the tutor to review the exam paper, out of interest?

BorrowedThyme · 03/09/2023 19:20

Sausagesandpeas · 03/09/2023 18:05

Yes I’m paying the tutor, yes she is an AQA exam marker for English (Lang paper 2 this year) as well as a current Secondary English teacher, yes I understand exactly how it works - I am not looking for a mark, we are looking at papers to see why the awarded grade was so wildly different to the predicted and mock grades. More than happy to be told my DD just didn’t do as well this time but it doesn’t hurt to check.

The comment about one mark referred to the calculation in a chemistry paper which was awarded 0 out of a possible 6. This has now been confirmed (by head of Chemistry, unpaid as it’s my sister in law) as being completely correct so certainly not within the tolerance so it will be going back for review.

Show quote history

so are you saying she got 0 and she should have got 6?

Newbutoldfather · 03/09/2023 18:54

@BackT ,

Given the grade boundaries, they are almost certain to stay the same, with a very tiny chance of going up. Papers are really carefully marked these days. I have rarely seen them move more than a couple of marks.

No downside though, other than the cost.

ittakes2 · 03/09/2023 18:40

Newbutoldfather · 03/09/2023 09:44

It has become a bit of a game, especially in private schools. When the marks are given, if a pupil is close to an upper boundary, you request a remark, as it is very unlikely to go down and sometimes a couple of extra marks are found, which pushes you over the boundary.

Of course it is pretty unfair on schools which don’t have the time to analyse every mark in detail and parents who don’t find the £50 a pop remark cost to be trivial.

we have twins - my daughters private school don’t even give you the marks just the grades to deter parents asking for teachers to assess them. The teachers email when a child is close to the boundary - but no offer to check just pay for the reassessment as they assume we can afford it.
my son’s free grammar school teachers offered to check his paper which was 1.8 marks below a grade (the odd number was due to an uplift as he broke his hand a few weeks before exams).

Original poster
Sausagesandpeas · 03/09/2023 18:05

BorrowedThyme · 03/09/2023 17:34

You don't understand how it works - "finding" a mark in a calculation will not make a whit of difference - it is well within the tolerance

Does the tutor actually have the mark scheme? Are you paying them for their time?

Show quote history

Yes I’m paying the tutor, yes she is an AQA exam marker for English (Lang paper 2 this year) as well as a current Secondary English teacher, yes I understand exactly how it works - I am not looking for a mark, we are looking at papers to see why the awarded grade was so wildly different to the predicted and mock grades. More than happy to be told my DD just didn’t do as well this time but it doesn’t hurt to check.

The comment about one mark referred to the calculation in a chemistry paper which was awarded 0 out of a possible 6. This has now been confirmed (by head of Chemistry, unpaid as it’s my sister in law) as being completely correct so certainly not within the tolerance so it will be going back for review.

OP posts:
JellyBabiesSaveLives · 03/09/2023 17:57

From @Circleoffifths link, about 12% of reviews result in a grade change (doesn't say whether it's up or down).

BorrowedThyme · 03/09/2023 17:36

BackT · 03/09/2023 16:32

We have been looking at this today. DC is 4 marks off a 7 in Physics, and 5 off a 7 in Biology and Chemistry.

Not sure if it's worth trying for a remark?

with those gaps, more likely to go down than up

BorrowedThyme · 03/09/2023 17:35

Hmmph · 03/09/2023 07:54

We weren't going to - good results and a place in 6th form- but my child found the grade boundaries by paper.

In the subject they have always excelled in, they got expected marks in 2 of the papers and a really poor one in another which dragged their mark right down. My child said the exam went really well and, as they have done lots of practice papers, I believe them. The mark looks very wrong (way more than a mark or two). They didn't finish early in the exam or anything.

Added to this, I googled this paper for this exam subject and found an advert where the exam board were struggling to recruit markers for it. Which makes me a bit suspicious.

Struggling to get hold of school, but hopefully can tomorrow and can request the paper and see if there is a page that hasn't been marked or something. If there is, we'll obviously ask for a remark. I have prepped my child for the possibility they might have messed up and we might just need to leave it...

I think it's worth taking a look at though.

All exam boards advertise for markers every year, there is always a shortfall. I don't know why that would make you suspicious

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